Conspicuous Consumption

Conspicuous Consumption

Whereas goods and services were historically consumed as a function of practical need, by the mid-20th century, in order to meet the increase in supply of goods brought on by the industrial revolution, consumers needed to associate the acquisition of those same goods, without any practical purpose being served, as a new form of social status. Goods producers needed the very same workers who were making their products to purchase them. They needed to create the desire among their workers, the new middle class, to be motivated to acquire these mass produced goods as a form of public display of social status, rather than for their practical utility. Here advertising played a key role and the rise of Mad Men-styled agencies reflected the increasing demand of corporations to influence this audience.